The Destruction of the Q
by RogerD
Summary: Q thought Picard had saved the multiverse, obviously things did not happen as expected.This has been recently revised.
1. They're Gone

Authors' note- sequel to the book 'Q & A' written by Richard DiCandido

Chapter 1

Q surveyed the quadrants of the universe and all looked good. At least since Picard had saved the multi-verse from 'Them'.

Jean-Luc looked at the report issued by Commander, _no Captain now,_ Captain Riker. His eyes wandered over the data padd and licked his lips nervously. It made a brief scant mention of Species 8472 the possibility of a serious threat to the Federation. So far at least ten other Federation ships were already on their way, but the orders were clear go to the Neutral Zone.

Little did either of them, even me realise how insignificant that would be.

Moving across the universe at superluminal speeds unavailable to even the Travellers, _pesky things_, thought Q absently and noticed something odd just outside the Milky Way galaxy. "This damn galaxy was the bane of my life" Q said to no one in particular. He noticed that one of the sub-quantum entropic anomalies used by Them remained, sucking in anything nearby like some galactic vacuum cleaner more powerful than a black hole. _Unusual_ he thought and made his way to visit Them. Upon arriving found the enigmatic beings were absent. "Are you here?" shouted Q numerous times hearing only the echo of his voice. Angry and confused Q appeared near the anomaly and only realised at last minute that it had recently grown to ten times the size and still going.

Calling loudly for his mate and child, both appeared immediately. "What is this?"

"I don't know" she replied. Surveying the universe quickly Q noticed that another anomaly was on the opposite side of the galaxy, but unlike its counterpart, it was not a galactic garbage disposal but more like primitive sciences believed a white hole was the opposite of a black hole. Even now numerous Quantum Realities were translating into this one, races and beings appearing that did not belong here; soon it would turn into a cosmic battle scene, certain death awaited either way.

For some reason that bothered Q, _it never had before_, and looking on in horror as various species who were never meant to meet started squabbling or exchanging weapons fire. _Idiots!_ Q thought.

Suddenly the anomaly had a burst of growth and expanded twenty fold, eating part of the Milky Way. "Damn" Q muttered to himself and looking at his mate and son both sensed that they were spreading all over the universe like wildfire. "Let's make a break for it" he suggested.

"What about the others dad?" enquired Q junior. Q looked at Mrs Q and both came to the same conclusion. "No" both replied in unison; never had both agreed so readily. _He felt more like a family than ever before_. "Grab anything you can" Q replied, "Aunt Kathy, Jean-Luc; including lifeforms not belonging to this Quantum Reality, but don't go near the anomaly" he instructed and off the Q family went.

The family Q were grabbing anything they could, moving through the galaxy as fast as possible. Even the Preservers were making the for universal escape route seeking to avoid the cosmic sinkhole of Armageddon.

Q grabbed great armfuls of Federation ships, Romulans, Klingons and numerous other species on the way through. Absently Q realised that he had not stuck to this time period either, _oh well _he thought, "Save as many as possible" he sent telepathically to his mate and son, throwing any into stasis by placing them into a kind of trans-dimensional backpack. His mate and son did the same. Realising that Mrs Q had ventured out of the galaxy very briefly and gathered other deserving species. "Are you ready son?" Q asked junior and looked at Mrs Q as they linked hands.

"Well here goes nothing" she replied they all dived through the cosmic escape like a dolphin through a hoop and emerged somewhere completely foreign.

The scene to his hyper developed senses appeared to be some kind of huge cosmic water made of absolute energy, waves rising and falling like huge ocean. Q looked back and could not see any other Q following him and even if they were; nothing could be done for they were alone now. All three Q tried to stay as close together as possible, but the tides were pulling them apart. "Hang on!" Q shouted.

"I can't dad the tides are too strong!"

"Don't worry, we'll keep you safe" Mrs Q answered to whatever lay out there.

"You know it really is quite beautiful out here"

"Q, only you would chose to wax lyrical at a time like this!"

Q feeling suitably chastised by Mrs Q tried to maintain a grip. "Maybe if we link our powers together we'll forge an unbreakable link" he suggested hopefully. In actuality Q was completely 'winging it' right now and had no idea if ordinary rules applied wherever they were.

The Family Q concentrated without ever taking their eyes off one another, created a gestalt of Q powers allowing a psychic link between each one of them- Q to Mrs Q and Q to junior. Each also had a similar link.

Q knew what humans went through in the oceans of other planets now, and noticed that a storm was approaching. Lightning appeared from nowhere striking the surface of the ocean and waves threatened to swell. "Fabulous" remarked Mrs Q at the sight.

"Don't jinx it" warned Q.

"Don't be so silly as to think I believe any of that superstitious nonsense" she retorted. Q just groaned inwardly and hoped they would be okay and find shelter before the storm reached them.

In the distance they could all see huge spherical objects, _universes_ he thought and looked at his son. Q junior seemed tired and began to sag, chin almost passing beneath the ethereal waves. His mate was tired too, having held their son aloft who knew how long. Grabbing both, one on either shoulder Q swam towards to nearest universe.

It grew nearer and nearer, he was moving at speeds past any super luminal measurement. Both his mate and son slept on either shoulder, held tight, despair and fatigue threatened to overwhelm even him. _No Q has ever been this far out_ he thought, and concentrated on the task ahead.

"It's not fair" he screamed begin to sink beneath the waves, at least until a huge wave threw him towards the incoming universe.

_Finally _he burst through, floating briefly in the void of space, turbulent though it was. It seemed that this universe sought to emulate the ocean outside. Knowing danger was everywhere he looked for the nearest habitation and appeared in a huge city. All the habitants appeared human, although they were obviously not. It was a semblance of their form. Suddenly Q could see that armed guards moved in his direction and drawing on what remained of his mates' and sons' powers placed them and their belongings in his backpack. Unless they were extremely powerful and did not look closely, most would not sense them within the bag.

The guards surrounded him with bladed weapons, _what is this? _He examined the weapons closely, for many possessed hidden powers and possibly capable of even hurting or _maybe_ killing a Q? Deciding to follow their instructions as he was lead to a huge castle, into a kind of throne room. Once inside, a man stood there, dressed in regal robes. "Well" he said turning. "Just who are you? What is your name?"

"My name is Q"

"It would seem you are a long way from home" remarked the stranger pulling the wisp of a beard. Q looked at the man and using his senses spotted unparalleled levels of power within, and worriedly answered. "I am. The multi-verse that I was apart of has been destroyed"

"By whom?" asked the stranger clasping hands behind his back, and turned to look at Q, surveying the omnipotent. "Who has that kind of power?" the host asked more forcefully grabbing Q. "Well! Answer me!" he shouted. "What is in this bag? Little thing"

Q stepped back breaking the hold on his arm. "Just who are you?" he asked, anger flooding his system, "I've just got here and have not accosted anyone. Yet you treat me like a criminal".

The eyes of the stranger flashed with anger and power. "I am called Arioch and you are before one of the foremost Lords of Chaos". Q had heard all kinds of boasts, many a being had claimed to be a lord of chaos. "Now you will tell me who destroyed your multi-verse and what is in your bag"

"What I carry in my bag is none of your business" answered Q looking out of the window at the landscape. "As to who or what destroyed the multi-verse. Well they have no name and we refer to them simply as 'They', or 'Them', for we have no idea what to name the beings. All we know is that they are plural; nothing more" remarked Q evenly.

"No such being exists"

"You are obviously wrong"

"Do not taunt or lie to me! Answer me Q! What is in your bag?"

"Don't" answered Q, protectively clutching the backpack. The stranger gestured and Q bounced off a wall. Slowly rising and absolutely furious, Q released an aspect of his power. Arioch flew threw the fall and fell to the ground below. _Good riddance!_ Thought Q and in an instant Arioch appeared. "How dare you!" screamed the Chaos Lord.

Q rose to full height, fighting off the weariness that had claimed him, for the lives of his mate and son were at stake, letting his full omnipotence wash over the Lord of Chaos who fell backward, almost tripping. "What are you?"

"I told you that I am called Q and I am omnipotent. You know the word?" taunted Q insolently. "It means that I can do anything I want. Including stripping you of power and turning you into an Earth flee! Got it?"

"Yes" the Lord of Chaos stammered.

"Now all I want is to rest here for a night and then I will be gone, forever. And before you ask, those that destroyed my home make my omnipotence seem like nothing" and off he walked. Turning back briefly; "Where's your room?" asked Q.

"At the top of the tower, it's yours"

"Now you're getting it. I want breakfast promptly at 10am. Do not disturb me before as I am sleeping in!" Q stalked off in the direction of Ariochs' room.

The room was beautiful, ornate and resplendently decorated. All of which meant nothing to Q, although to make sure no one decided to creep in during the night-placed the entire room temporarily out of space/time. Settling down to a good nights sleep placed his son and mate in the bed with him. All slept soundly and none awoke. When morning came Q let his mate and son know what had transpired and that this universe was not friendly. Urging them to hide, or accept stasis within the bag-which they did. Q flashed and was outside this universe once more.

Although the Q are or rather were a virtually omnipotent species, they were probably dead now; yet omniscience had always eluded them and it was for this reason that he was taking the long way around. If Q had looked harder a shortcut existed in the universe he had just left into the universe in whose direction he was now swimming.

Bursting through into another universe, Q surveyed the surroundings. In fact this galaxy was almost identical to the Milky Way, one which he was intimately familiar. Exiting into normal space he watched a species whose ship eerily reminded him of what the Borg called Species 8472.

_First things first _he thought. _Lighten the load_ and looked throughout the galaxy searching for locations to place the respective races. He spotted another cybernetic race across the galaxy and quickly read their minds, _shocked _to find they were also called the Borg; deciding to throw all the thousands of Borg ships a few parsecs away from the ones here. _Let nature take its course_. Q scouted for humans and using his Q abilities to their utmost found two easy choices, Earth or Babylon 5. Several hundred Federation ships appearing would cause problems and that is exactly what he wanted to avoid.

In truth Q felt quite liberated without the rest of the Q watching over his shoulder and found his own sense of purpose and responsibility. _Puzzling, _and like a flash of inspiration he realise what it was. As soon as the Q family were separated from the Continuum they should have very little power yet he felt no different. _Either the Continuum reaches out even this distance or another dimension like it exists here_. But that didn't solve one problem, their empowerment in the vast ocean.

Grandfather Q watched over the little Q family and had done ever since they left the comfortable confines of their corner of creation. He had done something very similar aeons ago only the ocean had swept him elsewhere. _To this place _he thought, what many know as Gods Command Module, the control centre of possibilities. He allowed the Q family power and had even linked them to the equivalent of the Continuum where they were – _they would have found it anyway_.

In the end he decided to place DS9, and various Federation Starbases and all of their fleet near the planet identical to Bajor. It was rich in resources and uninhabited. _He'd give them the bad news later. _

_Mmmm……_as Q tapped his chin thoughtfully, he needed somewhere the place half a dozen Voth ships. _I am being a dunce_ Q reflected, making everything hard for myself and knew by looking at the galaxy he could place species exactly where they were from. Simple. Something niggled him though like a constant itch he couldn't scratch. _What was it?_ Perhaps place the Voth a little nearer the Federation, a few thousand light years would do it. He actually had the whole bloody Briar Patch too. He placed that next to the Federation and ensured that it would not dissipate.

_What else did I bring?_ Noticing the whole Dominion in his bag and numerous allies consisting of Vorta, Jem'Hadar, Breen and Founder and tossed them into the equivalent of the Gamma Quadrant here. What was giving Q concern was that some species here had actually created a wormhole connecting Gamma and Alpha Quadrants. _Weird_!

The Cardassians were thrown near the Klingons and the Romulans who Q knew would keep an eye on them. In fact this group formed a triangle, as did the Federation, Klingons and Romulans. _Nothing like trying to preserve the status quo_ and upon reflection some of the species he brought with him were not good choices. He couldn't kill them now, they deserved a chance.

The Xindi, Suliban and Tholian Q placed in another triangle of space which seemed to be uninhabited currently. Looking at this galaxy it had nowhere near as many species as the one he was used to. Maybe this lead to complacency within the Q knowing there was always another species.

The omnipotent looked at the galaxy again and began to examine planets that existed in the old Milky Way, prior to destruction at least. _No it could not be_, and looked more closely – using senses far keener than any in any Federation time period. _Impossible_, yet here they were, Metron and Organians in this very cosmos. He pushed senses out of the Milky Way travelling into the distant cosmos; he could almost smell them; Preservers and the Progenitors. He disappeared in a Q flash and looked at them from a distant dimension he had found. _Could this be a case of divergent evolution leading to different outcome? _Thought Q. It went way beyond that; someone or something had had a hand in this pie pushing events here, and an event there for a particular outcome. It was beyond any Q to plan so meticulously. Q was worried now.

Concerned he went to the Galactic Core and found that the planet of Sha Ka Ree was there and sensed a whole yet imprisoned malicious entity known as the One and Zero on the opposite side of the Core. _This was beyond a joke now_ and he saw something that took even him back a proverbial step. Huge octopoid beings in crystalline prisons, and even from outside Q could sense their immense psychic ability; more powerful than a Q. He couldn't put the Cytherians there and fled as fast as possible.

So he opted for the Cytherians to be left about ten light years from Epsilon 3, an advanced machine that would make the Federation salivate. There they could cloak their planet and be near potential allies. This left the Devidians which Q let go to wander as they pleased.

One issue, _well three actually_ and sent the Federation of the 29th and 31st Century and placed them well out of the Milky Way in the void of space between Galaxies. They were more than advanced enough to go where they please and there were equally advanced civilisation spanning across galaxies. They would fit in well there.

Q looked at the Sphere Builders – he would keep an eye on them, but he suspected the advanced species in this galaxy were more than sufficient. He went back to the Federation and found they were not temporally correct either. He had Archers' original Enterprise, Kirks' and Picards' latest model the NCC 1701 E. In theory Jean-Luc should have been the captain of the 'F' too, but that obviously wouldn't happen now.

He woke his mate and son and telepathically sent them what he had done, who both repeated the process sending out extra-galactic species back to where they belong. Besides Q was prepared to intervene if need be, to prevent hostilities.

Q appeared on the organic ship and looked at the, whatever it was. "Hi there" he remarked cheerily. The non-corporeal entity jumped and turned abruptly to face Q. "Who are you?" it sent.

"I am Q and new to these parts. Do you have a tour guide?"

"Insolent mortal"

"Hardly" answered Q and decided to read the beings mind anyway.

"Well Vorlon your name is Ulkesh"

"How do you know that?"

"I am Q" and let a portion of his power envelope the Vorlon who collapsed passing out on ship floor. "Any time you're ready" answered Q flippantly, "haven't got all day" who started to examine his nails.

Two days later the Eldest First One arrived accompanied by several species Q recognised. "What the hell are you doing here!" remarked Q

"We do not recognise you" answered the Organians.

"Neither do I" answered a Metron.

. "I'm sorry for my outburst, it is just that you are identical to species found in my native universe"

"Interesting" remarked both Organian and Metron. Sighing he explained the story of the quantum entropic collapse between the different multi-verses-allowing other realities to begin to merge with his own. He told of their flight and their homelessness and that they had numerous others from their universe in need of housing. "You managed to save so many" stated the Vorlon Ulkesh which came across as 'why bother saving inferior beings'.

Mrs Q and Q junior appeared. "If you have no objection my son and wife would like to explore"

"They must not interfere" stated the Vorlon flatly.

"Do not be so silly" answered Mrs Q haughtily. "If I did your species would have never been born or been turned into an worm"

"Q" Q barked. "We are not at home now and we must co-operate with the resident species here. Maybe They decided that the Q were the problem to be eradicated" he shouted at which Mrs Q looked visibly shocked by that suggestion, flushing in embarrassment. "Can we have a moment?" asked Q to the advanced species as they disappeared in a Q flash.

"My name is Lorien" explained the glowing ball of light.

"You were watching us" said Mrs Q accusingly.

"I was"

"Why?" asked Q junior. "We weren't doing anything wrong"

"Indeed you weren't" encouraged Lorien. "I merely wished to explain the situation. The First Ones of this galaxy are not really ready to encounter Me or You" stated the Ancient. "For they have so much growing up to do"

"You got that right. You're not like any of them are you?"

"No. For I was the First"

"I don't understand dad"

"I think I do" said Q.

"Surely you don't mean you were the first being in the universe?"

"I was and many followed. In time we moved beyond the Galactic Rim and went into the Void between. It is then we began to explore and spread out forming a network of races across a thousand galaxies"

"Are you going to hurt us? Cos' my dad and mom can protect themselves" asked Q junior worriedly.

"Hardly" admonished the Ancient, "merely a hand in friendship. If you wish to take it"

"Friends. I don't think I've really ever had friends" remarked Q

"Perhaps now would be a good time to start"

Lorien looked at the family Q, _so this is where the past becomes the future and the future the past_ the Eldest mused. He admired all the family and watched them for a moment, savouring their love for one another. Hard times lay ahead for them. He would help the son grieve for the mother and a husband for a wife but that was their _distant future and his distant past_, almost 2 billion years ago. Mrs Q had attempted to foolishly and yet incredibly heroically subdue one of Ogdru Jahad and had paid with her life. He had later petitioned to the Guardians of the Universe for clemency and asked for restoration; but they had claimed it was beyond even them. For millennia after millennia father and son had raged but he, Lorien had helped them both accept the passing of a loved one; for they had all lost during this time.


	2. Past Lives

**Chapter 2 – Past Lives**

Captain Kirk woke with a start, quickly sitting up threw the bed sheets off. _Something was on the tip of his consciousness _yet he couldn't place it. Walking towards the sonic shower barely awake; shedding unwanted clothes at the door. He always found showers invigorating, and deciding to have a water shower, _once in a long time. _Then there was that thought again, it was like trying to grasp thin air. Many officers in Starfleet eschewed technological gimmicks when it came to shaving, always having preferred to wet shave. The steamed up mirror made it impossible to see anything, yet still feeling more tired than he remembered - Kirk began to shave by feel. Once finished he rinsed his face with water and looked in the mirror. The razor dropped from slack fingers into the water, and he staggered on uncertain feet, grabbing onto the side to keep upright. _He had died, _recalling a name _Picard, Soren_. James T. Kirk rubbed his face, looking at the lines of age that were no longer there. His features were those possessed during the original five year mission. "Computer what is the Star date"

"Star date unknown" it replied unhelpfully. Putting on his uniform strode to the communicator on the wall.

Captain Jonathon Archer sat in his quarters, and was about to give Porthos a saucer of milk. He saw a reflection of himself in a glass frame of a painting – dropping the saucer, contents splashing all over the floor, accompanied by a barking in the background. Ambassador Spock stood in his quarters and pulled the hood around his face, noticing that all the tell-tale age lines had vanished, replaced once more by his youthful self. Stepping to another mirror, admired the results. "Fascinating"

Captain Sulu eyes flicked open abruptly, realising he was sitting in his command chair. _Hope no one saw me napping?_ A quick survey around the bridge, it certainly seemed to be the Excelsior, spotting Ensign Tuvok spewed from the turbo lift, alarm evident in the young Vulcan's eyes. "Are you okay Ensign?" His words were not heard, the junior office obviously in his own world. "Ensign!" This time the shout was more forceful. Tuvok looked up startled. "Ensgin Tuvok! Are you okay?" he repeated more gently this time.

"I do not believe so" was the answer, although Sulu could not see the calmness and serenity present in most Vulcan's. As calmly as possible, glancing once at the uniform and rank insignia he wore. "My rank is Lieutenant Commander" he said more firmly. "What year is this?"

"2293" answered Sulu automatically. "Why?"

"That is not correct", he said standing before the Captain. "In fact I was on Voyager with Captain Janeway having returned three months ago from the Delta and Gamma Quadrant". Sulu laughed. "You hit your head Ensign" he said smiling, noticing shocked looks on the face of others; _horrified_, and then stood up. He saw his image reflected on the viewscreen and it stopped him cold. _What the?_

Communication chatter was crazy, not that Riker knew any of this as he turned over in bed, seeing that Deanna was already showered, and standing semi-naked in their shared quarters. "You're going to be late for your shift" his wife scolded. Riker rubbed his eyes and jumped out of bed like Superman, hovering briefly in the air before landing flat on his face. "Oomph!" he moaned. Deanna laughed at the youthful display of acrobatics. Gathering his composure, or what was left of it, ran to the shower.

Janeway was getting ready for her shift, just like any other day, and grabbing her jacket slung an arm through the sleeve, stopping when she saw the _four pips?_ Another examination of the uniform and her quarters revealed an obvious problem. _She was aboard Voyager_. Putting on her old Captain's uniform made her way to the bridge. _What the hell?_ She remembered being assimilated by the Borg, _not just assimilated_, as she mentally corrected herself; but been transformed into the Borg Queen. She staggered, and collapsed onto the bed, immensely thankful for its presence. _I died_ she remembered, _as a Borg_. Disgust made her dry heave.

Greeting her on the bridge were the shocked faces of crew, Chakotay who appeared all equally as alarmed. "What are you doing here?" he inquired jovially. "Thought you got promoted?"

"So did I?" she remarked ruefully. "Anyone seen Tuvok?"

"Computer, please locate Lieutenant Commander Tuvok"

"Lieutenant Commander Tuvok is not on board this vessel" answered the female voice of the computer.

"You should see this, we have all kinds of chatter, hell of a lot of interference too" stated Chakotay worriedly. Captain Picard looked behind at Lieutenant Commander Worf on the Enterprise E. "Sir, this is impossible!" growled Worf. "Is there a problem?" asked Picard politely, feeling the waves of frustration given off by his Security Officer. "Sir we are receiving hails from at least two ships claiming to be the Enterprise".Picard looked up abruptly, alarm immediately overwriting the calm expression shown moments ago. "Are you sure?"

Fingers were moving rapidly over the controls, "Affirmative sir, we have registries NX-01, NCC-1701 A, B & C"

"That is quite correct sir". Both Worf and Picard turned abruptly to look at Data sitting at a console.

"What is going on?" uttered Jean-Luc clearly annoyed, "Data how can you be alive? We saw you die"

"That is quite correct sir, I remember the ship exploding but now I am here" he remarked matter-of-factly. "While you were busy in dialogue with Lieutenant Commander Worf I have also taken the liberty to chart our position"

The Captain considered that for a moment, "So where are we?"

"According to the sensors we are not in our universe, furthermore" he began, waiting for the Captain to walk over, "it would seem that we are currently in the unknown regions of the Alpha Quadrant some ten thousand light years from Earth". Picard looked at the display and sighed. Not only were there several manned versions of the Enterprise, there were also several floating adrift with no life signs aboard.

Kirk made his way to bridge on the Enterprise A. "What have you got for me?" he asked abruptly, trying to get a measure of things. He saw Bones and Spock on the bridge, all looking a lot younger than when he had last seen them. The Scottish brogue of the Captain Scott shouted a greeting. "Captain"

"Scotty" he replied cheerfully seeing an incredibly young crew staring back at him.

"Aye sir" he replied. "Got a problem though, we're having trouble maintaining a stable warp field".

The Vulcan turned. "Captain we are detecting several versions of Enterprise each relating to the time period in which they served", but never managed to complete his sentence.

"Is there an Enterprise D" he asked.

"Affirmative sir, unmanned"

The Captain cursed. "Receiving hail from Enterprise E" Uhura said. "A Captain Picard"

"Good" said Kirk. "Maybe someone I know can get me some answers"

"Captain when did you meet Captain Picard?" James Kirk had managed to use logic to out think computers several times during the original five year mission, caught the unspoken subtext of his friends comment. "Who else has met Jean-Luc?" he inquired dropping formality looking at Spock and Bones.

"On their inaugural journey on the Enterprise D"

"Aye" piped up Scotty from Engineering. "Save me from a Dyson Sphere"

"I have" replied Spock. Looking somewhat shell shocked and raising a hand, began to shake it indicating silence.

"Later gentlemen" he remarked irritably. Thoroughly irked, he looked at the view screen. "Jean-Luc you're looking well" he said forcing a smile.

"Captain Kirk" answered Picard. "The last time I saw you", but the sentence was never finished as the transmission kept breaking up. After a second it resumed.

"I was dead" answered Kirk flatly. "Yes I know. That's old news", he smiled sweetly looking down in dismay at his white uniform. "Well any idea what's going on?" he asked pleasantly, "'Cos quite frankly we're stumped"

"Not at the moment although we are getting alarming reports, you could always beam across?" suggested Jean-Luc.

Kathryn Janeway was pacing on the bridge of Voyager, and shook her head. "What a mess" she remarked. "Find out where Tuvok is" she ordered absently, sitting down and then instantly standing. She began to rub her head, feeling the press of a headache. "Get me the Enterprise E." It seemed the sensible order with the mess out there. The last thing she wanted was to hail unmanned vessels. "On screen"

"Captain", was the warmest pleasantry she could manage. "It would appear that I have dropped rank", was her sarcastic comment. Hoping mirth between Captains might help relieve the pressure she felt. "How are things on your ship?"

"So it would seem Admiral, probably about as well as can be expected considering….." he began letting the sentence trail off, and tugging his uniform straight again _such a bad habit_. "Do you have any idea what's happened?"

"Not at the minute Jean-Luc, it's a real mess out there"

"Captain", stopping himself not sure which rank she held at minute in light of the present situation, "Admiral. We've found a few startling things ourselves, various dead crewmen have spontaneously appeared alive and well. Data for one"

"What?!" she exclaimed by the statement. "How is that possible?"

"Well I for one can only think of one explanation"

"Q" Kathy answered, which caused Picard to nod in agreement.

"There are also several unmanned but wholly intact vessels and I would suggest someone take charge of the fleet and getting personnel across"

"That's good idea, maybe I should change?" she suggested smiling, "Someone has to take charge here"

"Probably a good idea" agreed Jean-Luc.

"Would you like a promotion?" she joked. "Help me out?"

Picard _tugged his uniform again_, and looked to his left. "Someone once told me to never accept to promotion and that while I remain here I can make a difference. And I for once agree"

"Who told you that? I'm hurt Jean-Luc" Janeway retorted sarcastically, "I really am,"

Kirk smiling broadly and stepped into view. "That would be me"

"Captain Kirk" exclaimed Janeway using the rank by which he held prior to an untimely death, quickly recognising the fact that he was wearing the old uniform of Admiral, prior to demotion. Captain Riker was on the Bridge of the Titan, and the alarms were going non-stop. "What have you got?" he asked.

"It's a bit crazy out there"

"Get me Captain Picard" he groused. He began rubbing his head, hoping a headache wasn't coming.

"Sir we've got a transmission from Admiral Janeway broadcasting to the whole fleet using radio waves"

"Radio waves?" asked Will incredulously. "You're joking"

"Actually I'm not, there's a problem with subspace". Turning to the view screen listened to the report.

Janeway stood there ready to give her broadcast to the fleet. It was going to be tough, no doubt about that. "Some of may feel a slight dissociation, at seeing personnel and ships that you have never seen before," she began. "Considering what has happened this is to be expected and although _we do not know_," Janeway paused a second to let the last statement sink in, "_we do not know"_ she re-iterated "what caused this we are working on it. Many of us are clearly from different time zones and it is imperative we all work together".

Walking forward nearer to the view screen, "Our scans indicate several things, one being is that we are in the Milky Way; we are unable to maintain a stable warp field." She paused hoping everyone was still with her despite being forced to conduct communication through radio waves. "Other secondary scans show this may well not be our _universe_". Janeway had had no time to prepare the speech and it was all ad-hoc, but what concerned her most was pulling together the crews of multiple time periods without any of them taking matters into their own hands. With several 24th Century ships and crews that had set about controlling the unmanned ships, as yet transporters were still inoperative, they were stuck to using shuttles. The later vessels would be easier as less crew were required, but older ones like the Constitution class Enterprise floating free out there and other just relics that might prove a problem.

Sighing inwardly, wondering what Picard would have said, _there was one man who knew how to throw a speech together_. "So without any way to currently get home what I propose is this, all Captains make their way to Deep Space Nine and we can discuss matters more fully. A warning is do not repeat, repeat do not attempt to use the transporters, shuttlecraft only." She gestured to Chakotay who closed the communication channel.

"I've sent the co-ordinates" he said. "Perhaps as Head of Starfleet" he mused smiling, "You should make DS9 a stable base for now, until we can figure things out". In truth Janeway had been thinking a similar thing herself, having imposed her will on the Fleet, couldn't very well fly off into danger. "Perhaps you're right"

"Admiral we've found Tuvok, he's listed as being on the Excelsior under the command of Captain Sulu". It was turning out to be one of those days, in fact _probably the worst ever_; _instead of being trapped halfway across the galaxy they were in another universe and nothing worked_. Rubbing her head was not easing her headache - _not at all_. Captain Picard was sitting in his Ready Room with James T. Kirk. "You do know while in that uniform that you're Admiral Kirk", concerned there was something wrong with what he might consider to be a friend, although their acquaintance was brief. Kirk sat down sipping his cup of coffee. "Yes I know" he replied. "It's all coming back to me now, Veridian 3, Soren, V'Ger the whole lot". Admiral Kirk sat down.

"Are you okay?" James Kirk didn't really know how to answer that, now that his memory was returning to normal, but _he was alive_ the main thing was that while he remained in _his chair; he could make a difference just like always_. "I am Jean-Luc". Sitting back, relaxing now that his senior officers had finally told of their forays into the 24th Century.

After an hour Kirk returned to _his _Enterprise using a shuttlecraft. The lack of stable warp field was having a knock on effect across the whole fleet. In their universe they were able to interact and use subspace quite readily, but here there was something preventing it, as though there was a barrier, or impediment between the dimensions that made its use more difficult, thus effectively stranding all the ships to using Impulse, no transporters, minimal sensors, and no subspace communications. As some subspace communication was possible, _it was almost like being in the dark ages._

Benjamin Sisko was livid, being with the _Prophets _one minute and here the next. _What was going on? _Putting those concerns aside Admiral Janeway had called a meeting aboard the station, where dozens if not hundreds, of Captains, and not all from the 24th Century either, would be converging to discuss the situation. _It was going to be chaos personified_. His heart skipped a beat, realising that Admiral Kirk would be here. _'Bout time someone gave Janeway a run for her money_. There was Worf, and according to the logs he was currently aboard the Enterprise with Picard. _Some ways he was glad the Defiant was still docked at the Station so he could run away to sanity somewhere else if need be_. _At least they were in orbit around a Class M planet_.

She had several quandaries on her hands. Archer had been head of the United Federation of Planets once before his death, Kirk was an Admiral, and while they conducted other searches looking for others that had been similarly highly ranked. _Was she to dismiss them or allow them to continue? _There were several problems if she dismissed earlier ranking systems, but the effect was it cheapened their contribution to the Starfleet and that it could cause an immediate rift from the _get go_; but the opposing view was that the Federation had changed so much from their times _were they qualified to hold the rank still?_ Unfortunately this decision weighed heavily, so she 'took the bull by the horns' and arranged a meeting.

Before they all went in, she had requested a meeting separately with Jonathan Archer, Admiral Kirk, Captain's Picard and Riker.

"We're going to have a problem on our hands shortly" she announced. "We still haven't found a way to maintain a stable warp field so we have no FTL travel as yet. Thanks to crews from both the Titan and the Enterprise E; we have now managed to maintain either skeleton crews or place unmanned ships under tractor beam; but we cannot do so forever"

"I agree" said Riker. "Do you have anything in mind?"

"Actually I do. We have a few current ships that are unmanned and we need to resolve that issue and use the older more obsolete ships as spare parts"

"You're talking about my ship" said Kirk.

"Not just yours but others too, according to Captain Sisko we have literally thousands of personnel without ships on this station, at least two fifths from 24th Century. He's taken a head count and we'll be sorting out assignments shortly"

"That's a lot of personnel" remarked Riker.

"It is" she stated. "Myself and Captain Picard have been trying to work things out. Admiral Kirk as your senior officers are familiar with the 24th Century it makes sense to use that knowledge by re-assigning you to the USS Sovereign". The act of giving such a menace up-to-date technology grated on whatever nerves and sanity the Admiral possessed, but it was the only way – _for the moment_, she chided herself. Kirk didn't have to think about the choices, "I'll take it"

"Good" she said pleased. "I thought you would". Turning to Will she said, "I need to reassign your crew too, to the USS Prometheus." Will smiled always wanting to take command of one and now he had his chance. "Absolutely" he beamed knowing it was unmanned at the minute. Janeway needed more experienced crew in the newer vessels. _Made sense really_, it wasn't going to be easy holding everyone together. Archer, who had been remained silent, wondered what he was doing here. "Captain Archer I'm sure may well remember being Head of Starfleet and I propose you be so again". He recalled those years and sometimes not altogether fondly. "That was a long time ago"

"But I cannot just dismiss the rank of any officer superior just because they do not originate in the 24th Century"

"I see where you're going" he said succinctly, "it might fracture the fleet" he said, "such as it is" Archer added.

"The main issue is that each time period had a different set of operating guidelines and if we cannot hold them together cohesively" she stated, her hands were near to one another as though holding a ball. "So what do you propose?" inquired Admiral Kirk. "The tenets of your era?" Scorn was evident in the Admiral's tones and facial expression.

"That's exactly what I'm suggesting" she answered tersely. "We're stranded in a strange universe and we need to maintain things like the Prime Directive", and taking a breath, "where possible"

Archer looked at Janeway taking the data pad she offered. "I agree with you, I'll familiarise myself with these straight away and will let you know when I am ready. What about my crew?"

"I was thinking of the Constitution Class Enterprise," to which Kirk threw her a dirty look.

Three hours later all the Captains were in one of the main Cargo bays, the only place large enough to take them. Many questions were asked but with no new answers the discussion went onto how they must move forward. Numerous debates and even outright arguments took place. Janeway knew they had to vent their frustrations otherwise the problems would only resurface later. The room went silent for a minute, "If I may have your attention" she shouted. "Until we find a way home I suggest we look at the obvious" she said. "We have a Class M planet nearby that we can use as a temporary home where we can build homes and mine any ores we need," her oration was however interrupted by a flash of light and a familiar presence. Q stood there. "Well its good of you all to come"

"Q!" shouted Picard, "This no time for jokes!"

Straightening his posture, "For once you're absolutely right" he answered. "Right and before anyone butts in" he shouted, raising his voice to preternatural levels. "The universe as you know it is gone" said Q matter-of-factly. "The Continuum all thought Picard had saved the universe at Gorsach, I guess we were wrong"

Picard who was angrier than a cargo bay full of Klingon Targs, "Don't blame me!" he raged.

Q raised his voice even higher. "I don't blame you!" he answered. "I blame me," the comment which caused silence to descend over the whole room. "You see we thought 'They' were testing worthy species that came to their door, but I now suspect they were testing the Continuum in some unfathomable way"

"You're not serious Q" boomed Janeway. He sagged with all the stress and conjured himself an armchair to sit in.

"Actually Kathy I am, with the exception of _Me_" he said capitalising himself. "_My Mate and Junior_, we're all that's left of the Continuum. So we tried to save as many as we could, across multiple time periods"

"I am not playing a part of this pantomime" Janeway answered, but was interrupted by Picard.

"Admiral, wait" he urged. "I think Q is serious about this." Janeway threw Picard a very stern, 'we'll talk about it later' look, which he completely ignored, concentrating his attention on the Super Being. The omnipotent nodded. "We saw your universe consumed in entropy and left the confines of what we call home" he said sadly, "We went further than any Q has ever been," he said. "Luckily we found this universe before either of the three of us died, and seeing it was suitable, dropped you off somewhere safe." Picard knelt down besides the saddened Q. "No words of wisdom for me Picard, no pretty speech". Jean-Luc shook his head and placed a hand on Q's shoulder, partly in friendship and partly to console. Q sat there with his head in his hands, body shaking slightly as he cried softly. "I am truly sorry for your loss Q"

The meeting stopped while Q had centre stage. "They're gone" he said softly. "All of them." People stood still, holding their breath anxious what would happen next. After a minute, many booted feet began shuffle expectantly, wanting to do something, to speak yet none dared interrupt. Lifting up his head, "I am sorry" uttered Q, "I accidentally caught some of you in two time periods and so did my best by placing the memories in the younger body. I hope you don't mind" he said by way of apology.

It was Riker who mentioned the fateful statement. "At least the Borg aren't here" he muttered.

"Aaah" said Q, "There's something you need to know"

About a thousand light years from ZHa'Dum one hundred Borg cubes appeared as though dropped by some unseen god-like hand which in a sense they were, one belonging to Q. A psychic scream was omitted from a dark vessel that had arachnid characteristics, organic armour darker than space itself. A cube moved to intercept, a green tractor beam lashed out and captured the vessel. The spider vessel responded with a purple cutting beam similar to the Borg's, except theirs went through the shields dissecting the cube. Twice more the purple beam cut across the cube almost severing it into two separate pieces.

The Shadow vessel moved off, as a dozen more cubes attempted to intercept. It seemed to ripple and phase into nothingness. The Borg cubes continued towards a nearby planet.

Ten minutes later and without warning half a dozen vessels appeared, although they looked similar to the ones that Sheridan had encountered, they were most definitely not the same. The vessels the First Ones had used in that conflict had been designed to be slightly ahead of the younger races, to provide a challenge. These Shadow vessels bore the accumulated knowledge built up over millions of years, and began to engage the Borg fleet, each ship shooting out dozens of circular objects which then separated into mines, impacting on Borg shields.

Each ship fired multiple barrages of their purple particle beams, able to function effectively at much longer ranges than the opposition weaponry. Half a dozen cubes were quickly destroyed. Many Borg vessels converged all their firepower on a single Shadow ship, as organic armour began to buckle under the strain. Green cutting beams lanced off portions of the legs.

As quickly as it began, it was over and they retreated, leaving one straggler behind. Multiple tractor beams held onto it, while it attempted to phase into Hyperspace. A cube transported several drones aboard the vessel to assimilate the occupant into the Collective. Usually this tactic would have worked except her body was already full of nanites, only those created by the Shadows were over a million years more advanced than the Borg. As soon as a drone injected the nanites, she immediately reconfigured and reprogrammed them and began taking control of the drones.

Appearing on a walkway in the Borg cube, quickly found an input port. She began by injecting billions of Shadow nanites into the system which quickly overpowered the less sophisticated Borg ones. Within ten minutes the cube was hers. An infected drone was sent onto each other cube repeating the process and the hundred cube force stopped dead in space. The old Borg Queen was replaced by another. The new Borg Queen had much to do and using a tractor beam pulled her old ship inside; to remanufacture the organic armour for each cube. _Revenge_ was her plan, those who taken her life away and turned her into a monster. _The Shadows would pay_.

On the nearby planet, many of the Starfleet personnel build homes, or began to mine for any ore and other useful material they could find. Until Warp drive was possible, or some other means of superluminal travel, many lay and enjoyed the sun; some trying to frantically catch up on the lost years. Riker was ecstatic about his new command, the Prometheus was an amazing ship, although he felt twinge of guilt about leaving the Titan so early on after Captaincy. _In many ways it felt like betrayal._ A stable warp field still impossible, so any travel was stuck at sub-light speeds, and without fully functioning sensors the fleet was almost blind and deaf.

Kirk was aboard the Sovereign, a ship which was a bit on the large side, and _he thought the Excelsior was large, once_. At this minute he was intensely irritated. Not with Picard, not with being alive, _certainly not that_, but with not being able to explore, _grounded_. So to prevent boredom worked his way through logs, history, going without sleep for the last few days, relishing what his younger body was capable of, but he wanted _action_. A thought occurred to him, "Scotty" he shouted, the ship automatically transmitting the communication to the Chief Engineer. "Yes Admiral" was the answer.

"Can these engines go into imbalance?" he asked.

The Chief Engineer bristled somewhat. "Oh nae you doont" he moaned. His door chirped.

"Come" he answered and the half Vulcan walked in.

"Captain I have been monitoring your communication" he began, "Just in the interests of getting you up to speed with current events. I believe this may be dangerous; the project being abandoned as it caused substantial tissue damage"

"Yes I know", was the irritated reply. "But that was there. Here is here and laws seem to be different. It's got to worth a try" he suggested. "Better that than doing nothing"

"I believe myself and Scott could run some simulations". What he hated, _yes hated, _about the 24th Century was their tendency to run by committee, and that just wasn't him. "Okay" he answered. "Can you have the details ready within an hour?"

This caused the Vulcan to raise an eyebrow and the Engineer to curse. "It is possible" Spock answered withdrawing from the Ready Room.

Most forgot that once he had been a Science Officer, like Spock, being promoted to Captain. It was also why his logic was so flawless a majority of the time; and also why his five years mission had been so triumphant. Over the years, he'd gotten lazy, let Spock do all the calculations and the work, leaving him free to concentrate on Command. But with his old body back, despite how much of an oxymoron that was, revelled in its youth. Jolting awake, not even aware of sleeping, obviously his body needed the rest. Angrily he threw the data padd on the desk. _Time to rouse Spock,_ and walked onto the Bridge.

"Admiral" said Spock by way of greeting as he walked onto the Bridge, having removed the old uniform in place for the _modern_ _variant, as much difference as that made. _"Well gentlemen"

"I believe your proposal has some merit Admiral" replied Spock. "I would like more time to test it" requested Spock. Normally he would have said there wasn't time, or some situation pressed on them. But this clearly wasn't the case. "I think we could try testing this until we're blue in the face, it's now or never." Kirk could see his friends' reticence at the proposed course of action. "Mr Scott" said Spock. "Are you ready?"

"Aye sir," the half Vulcan looked at him waiting the signal. He nodded.

"You may begin."

"Take us out 110 mark 034" said Admiral Kirk. "One half impulse"

The Sovereign began to move off, "Take us up to point 90 of light speed, increase gradually towards light speed" Kirk urged.

"Point 91, Point 92, 93, 94" said the officer at the helm station, Kirk had not bothered to learn his name yet. The great vessel beginning to shake, not that a Sovereign couldn't take the rigors of Transwarp; they had been specially designed to take high stress levels, but this was something else.

"Point 98, 99, light speed!" he shouted as it created a kind of stable wormhole, a conduit down which it could travel at superluminal velocities.

"I'd say that's a successful test" he announced after twenty seconds. "Throttle back" ordered the Admiral. Slowly the great ship came to a halt, entering normal space.

"Give us a position. How far have we travelled?"

"Telemetry coming in now Admiral" said Spock examining the data. "It would seem we have not only found a way to attain faster than light yet again, but the initial data would also explain why we are having trouble with accessing subspace. Congratulations yet again Admiral". Kirk felt pleased, no better than pleased. _So much for 24__th__ Century_ he thought. _Sometimes the old ways are best_. "Helm, take us back the way we came, retroactive course" ordered Kirk. "Best get this information back before I get into more trouble" he said rhetorically, and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Janeway had gathered some of the best engineers together, although they weren't in the same room they were brainstorming over the communication channel; trying to find ways around the subspace problem, and or other ways of faster than light travel. They were busy simulating Warp drives both normal and experimental, Quantum Slipstream, Coaxial Warp, and Transwarp.

Jean-Luc had left Geordie to it. His badge beeped, "Captain to the bridge" requested Data.

"What is it?" Sitting in what was once Wills' chair, having taken over as First Officer.

"Sir it would seem that the USS Sovereign has left." Picard was annoyed, _Why would you so blatantly disregard orders_ he thought, But then that was Kirk's MO, _never been one to follow orders. _He knew Janeway would be furious and within thirty seconds the turbolift spewed him out on the Bridge. Data saw his approach even while currently bent over a terminal. "Sir it would seem that not only has the Sovereign left at full impulse but has also found a way to reach superluminal velocities"

"How Data?" he asked in gentle tones wondering what James T. Kirk had accomplished what no one else had done. _Change the odds_ had been another part of his MO.

"Unknown at this time sir; without subspace even our sensors are limited in effectiveness". Picard berated himself for not thinking, but Data was right.

Data spoke again. "Sir, the Sovereign is returning".

Jean-Luc looked at Data, "Open a channel" he said calmly. Admiral Janeway was sitting at a table, with Jonathan Archer standing behind her. Admiral Kirk stood there looking at them, and he could tell she wasn't just slightly annoyed.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" she shouted. "Taking a ship like that and doing something so risky!" Her voice was getting shriller. "Without even running proper simulations!" she continued.

"It worked didn't it" replied Kirk. Some people you were always going to clash with, and unfortunately Janeway was too _authoritarian_, preventing him from doing what he did best.

"But at what cost?" She slammed her hand on the table. "Unacceptable Admiral"

"Really" challenged Kirk. "Without the data we gathered it would have probably taken you months to even work out why we couldn't use subspace"

"You don't know that" she replied tersely.

It was Archer who spoke next, his voice seemed to carry over Janeway's. "I don't agree".

Head swivelling, "You have got to be joking," her voice incredulous, mouth hanging open briefly in shock.

Archer walked so that he could be seen by both. "You're so caught up in your 24th Century idealistic way of doing things you've lost sight of the objective," he said waiting for the comments to sink in. "To find out why we cannot use subspace." Archer picked up a data padd, "Now according to the reports we are a lot closer to finding that out. In about two days we should have fully functioning sensors and maybe transporters. Yes?"

"So I'm told" answered Janeway sheepishly, not happy about Archer disagreeing with her sentiment. "The main thing is we can send ships out now, safely, and hopefully in a couple of days we'll repeat the test and Admiral Kirk" said Archer. "I order you to stay put until then. Once we have the all clear you'll be the first to repeat the test"

G'kar sat aboard the ship, watching Lyta Alexander sleep, albeit fitfully. _She was having nightmares again_, but he would wait and maybe in time she would talk about it. For right now, they had time, and plenty of that. He had run away from the impending godhood the Narns had visited upon him, and she from her newfound and rapidly increasing powers. She'd been angry for weeks after Sheridan had threatened to 'blow her head off', but all that was long past. In time she would accept it.

Admiral, _or was it Captain_ Kirk now, slid out of bed, into the new uniforms. _Uniformly_ uncomfortable he thought to himself. A few back years retirement had seemed a good idea, but he had his youth back, and the urge to explore was upon him. He walked into a turbolift, which went swiftly to the bridge, luckily with no deviations. He had no mood for trivialities for with other officers today. Briskly he walked onto the bridge. "Spock, any news from Admiral Janeway"

"None Admiral", and raised an eyebrow in thought. Obviously aware of what Kirk was thinking. Sometimes he thought it might be all those mind melds, or maybe his Vulcan friend had learnt to anticipate his actions, thoughts. Sighing to no one in particular, sat down in the centre seat, _Captain's chair_. He missed Sulu's presence on the bridge. "Helm, lay in a course, 015, mark 080, ahead full and prepare to engage Transwarp"

"Captain, Admiral. I urge you to reconsider. Admiral Janeway will be most angry"

A wry smile and a sparkle lit his eyes. "What are they going to do, demote me – again"

"Admiral, Jim this is foolish"

"Spock without subspace we're virtually tripping over each other, it's a miracle we've not had a collision already"

Spock looked at his best friend, and knew to some extent Jim Kirk was right. They were just sitting here, running tests, yet without any real progress, which he suspected Janeway was using as a lever to keep them here. Unfortunately reading about the exploits of their Enterprise and its crew was not the same as knowing them. Without raising his head, "Helm, do as Admiral Kirk says, lay in course. Engineering, Captain Scott prepare to engage Transwarp on the Admiral's orders".

"Aye sir", no one heard his other comment when the communication ended, but it was an expletive.

Head of Starfleet, Jonathon Archer sat reading, and re-reading some of the exploits of various starship Captains, homing in automatically on the Enterprise which had quite a reputation over the years – being the Flagship of the Federation. _His name came up again, and again_, more than any others in fact. Kirk, the man had saved the Federation more than almost all the other Captain's combined; but he did have a predilection for disobeying orders. _Always justified_, yet Janeway seemed to have a personal grudge against him.

The only other Captain who came close to overshadowing Kirk was Picard, none came remotely close; not even Janeway herself. Personally he thought she was intimidated by such a living legend. This thought was testament to how well he didn't understand Kathryn at all. She actually disliked Kirk for one reason, and one only, his frequent disregard of orders sowed disorder into her otherwise orderly life.

In fact he was not the least bit surprised when a furious Vice Admiral Janeway, stomped into the office. "He's done it this time! I'll demote him to Commander. That's if he's lucky", she shouted pacing around like a caged animal. Not even bothering to ask for the topic of her wrath, it was plainly evident.

"Maybe Ensign would be better". He ignored her raging, and continued to read, knowing it would irk her all the more. "Are you not even going to ask what the problem is?"

"Not really", continuing to read uninterrupted. Truth be told Archer was gripped in a fascinating log entry of when the Kirk and a few others had emerged into the Mirror Universe, and swapped with their duplicates. It was amazingly easy it was for them to slip into the lives of their doppelgangers, but the reverse was not true – behaving like rabid animals the Mirror Universe crewmembers were easily rumbled. In the background Kathryn still continued to pace, angrier than a bay full of Klingons who had drunk a bellyful of Blood Wine and suffered with chronic hangovers. Patience was a virtue, at least that was the theory, and he was rapidly about to losing his. He'd heard her order Captain Picard to follow Kirk.

As deadpan as he could, and without smiling, and that was the hard. "I ordered Admiral Kirk to leave". She stopped dead in her tracks, like a gazelle being watched by a lion, hoping the predator would move on. "You…what" she stammered. "You ordered him", she stared right into his eyes, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"What and ruin your chance to vent all your angers at Admiral Kirk. Why intervene when I doubt you would have listened to anything I was saying". Her face went from red, to something else, he was not sure what; and he suspected an explosion was imminent. "You could have said something"

"I am saying something now" the current Head of Starfleet deadpanned some more, the thing about comedy was timing. "Two ships less is easier for everyone, I'm amazed no starships have collided"

Janeway sloped out his office without even being dismissed and for that he glad. Soon as the doors were shut he burst into fits of laughter, a tear even rolled down his cheek. After a minute of so, he calmed, somewhat angry at Kirk for not waiting a few moments longer. But he was an explorer not used to being tied down, and of having a somewhat longer lease than Janeway was going to give.

In a few hours he would talk to Janeway, and when Admiral Kirk returned, a chat was long overdue there too. He'd cover for the legendary Captain this once, but a conversation was called for.

In Transwarp Kirk was getting a splitting headache. "Spock" he shouted for tenth time, trying to heard above the din of absolute quiet. Which in itself was completely contradictory, but it somehow swallowed, or at least distorted all sound, rendering it noiseless. He reached across to panel on his chair, ordering the engines to be reversed. It took too long for them to respond, but they did. Suddenly they were back in normal space. Rubbing his temples watched Spock who was completely immersed in his readings. "Spock"

"Yes Jim"

"Next time can you do something about all that distortion, I've got headache"

Eyes moving toward his readouts, "Fascinating but quite impossible, that was one of the reasons the Transwarp project was shelved. In fact true Transwarp travel is decades ahead of 24th Century".

Groaning in displeasure, "What about normal warp drive?"

Spock tapped a few keypads, and nodded. "That might at least be possible. But I will need Captain Scott's help"

"You've got it". Getting up, Spock went into the turbolift and disappeared as the doors closed, on his way to engineering.

"Checkov where are we?"

With usual efficientness, he tapped the helm controls waiting for a response from the computer, "According to the computer we are just passing orbit of Epsilon III"

Walking over to his station looked at the readouts. Checkov looked over his right shoulder, "We're getting a remarkable amount background tachyon background emission. I think they're using it to communicate", awe in the officers voice.

"Can we match it and communicate with them?"

"Subspace we can't do, tachyons would have to be a yes"

On board Babylon 5, Ivanova looked at her readouts. "Is anybody else getting this? That ship is huge", and then tapped the communicator on her hand. "Captain to C&C, immediately we have an unknown ship"

"Acknowledged"


End file.
